


The Importance of Objects

by deathishauntedbyhumans



Series: EoNA [4]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Friendship, Gen, Halfling, Kender, Tiefling, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 17:56:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20119216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathishauntedbyhumans/pseuds/deathishauntedbyhumans
Summary: The inner workings of Pep’s mind are probably more complex than people expect. He might be naïve, but... he isn’t stupid. And hedoesunderstand that sometimes, you have to risk it all for something of importance.





	The Importance of Objects

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ragtag_slyboots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragtag_slyboots/gifts).

> To my dm: I’m so, so sorry.

Asphodel waves her hands wildly around her head, her voice raising further with every word she says. “You don’t understand, Pep. I have to get that ribbon back. I _ have _ to—“

“I understand,” Pep interrupts, an uncommonly serious edge to his voice. At his side, his fingers twitch. He doesn’t clutch at the ring on the cord around his neck, but he _ wants _ to. His fingers seem to ache without the contact. “You have to get the ribbon back.” It’s a statement of fact, a truth that he tries to make sound as obvious as it feels. He plants his feet and looks up at Asphodel, holding her gaze with his own. “You _ will _get it back.”

She spins out of control, almost faster than Pep can keep up with. Zombies and the undead and the cult… Pep isn’t afraid, not like Asphodel seems to be. As much as he can objectively, he understands _ where _her fear is coming from. He almost wishes he could feel it himself, just so he could have more of a taste of what she’s going through. 

But he doesn’t, and he can’t. So he reaches up and grabs at her hand, holding on as tightly as he possibly can. “_Asphodel_,” he says calmly, loudly, and she pauses, her eyes wide and terrified. “We can go with you. We’ve survived this far, and we’ve… We haven’t dealt with zombies, but we _ have _ dealt with cultists… _ and _ kobalds… _ and _ ice dragons. We’ll be okay. And you’ll get your ribbon back.” He smiles reassuringly and reminds her, “You have to get your ribbon back.”

Asphodel doesn’t look convinced. “I do,” she says, with a humourless laugh to accompany the words. The sound of such a joyful thing _ devoid _ of all its joy makes Pep even more resolute in his mission to help see her through this latest trial in their quest. “But _ zombies…” _

Ravi appears before Pep can say anything else, so he resolves himself to patting Asphodel’s hand and occasionally piping up with additions or answers to questions. It isn’t long before he comes up with what is, in his mind, the easiest path away from what Asphodel so seems to fear. 

“What if I sneak in and steal it back from him?” Pep asks, blinking up at his two companions. They both turn in strange unison to look at him. Ravi looks unsure, but there is something remarkably like _ hope _shining in Asphodel’s eyes. 

“You could do that?” she asks. Pep smiles brightly.

“I could try!”

Ravi shakes his head. “But if they catch you…?”

Pep shrugs. “Then they’ll probably kill me!” he finishes matter-o-factly. Ravi looks horrified. 

“You do not sound as concerned about that as you should.”

Death is, in itself, supposed to strike fear into the hearts of mortals. From a young age, Pep has been told the stories: humans frightened all their lives, tieflings making deals with their immortal parents, elves extending their lives as long as they possibly can to avoid the next step after life. But Pep has always heard the stories through his fellow kender. His kin have never feared death; they have no reason to. Death is merely the next step in the adventure of life that every creature, every single mortal being, must eventually take. If his death is to come in the face of helping a friend… Pep is more than willing to risk his life for such a cause. 

He shrugs again, and Ravi’s frown gets deeper.

Asphodel is breathing heavily now, and that shine of _ hope _ is starting to fade from her features. “And what if they do catch you, and they start to wonder why you’re trying to steal my ribbon and then oh ho, they realise I’m _ with _ you and—“

Pep retakes Asphodel’s hand, which she’d tugged away from him in her absolute panic. He holds on tight until she stops talking and looks at him instead. “I’ll say I thought it was pretty.” He pats the hand with his free one. “I’m a _ kender. _They’ll believe me.” The stereotypes against his kith were slanderous at best, but it would be a blatant lie to say he’s never used them to his advantage before. 

Ravi and Asphodel exchange a look. “...that is true,” the former says after a moment passes. “It is not a _ bad _ plan.”

Pep grins and reclaims both of his hands so that he can clap them together in excitement. “Let’s go, then! I’m gonna get a ribbon! And… not die. Probably.” He smiles freely up at Ravi and Asphodel, and keeps a smaller version of that smile on his face despite their looks of concern until they reach the violated temple of Helm that the Cult of Charnel is using for their own gain.

Getting into the temple now proves much more difficult than it had the first time. There are multiple moments that Pep nearly gives in, nearly goes back and tells Asphodel that it’s a lost cause, but… 

The hope shining in Asphodel’s eyes at the thought of getting her ribbon back sticks with him like the sap of a maple tree. Her joyless laugh rings in his ears, and the hollow look on her face when Pep had watched her hand the ribbon over to the cult member dances in front of his eyes. Without even thinking about it, his fingers curl around the ring lying warm against his chest. If he’d had to give that up in her position… 

The ribbon is important to Asphodel, and Asphodel is his friend. _ She _ is important to _ him_, and Pep is going to help her. 

It’s with this second wind of determination that he attempts to sneak into the temple while Ravi speaks to the bald, pierced cult member inside. And it’s with the same desperate determination that Pep bounds towards the stairs once he knows the jig is up.

_ If I can hide upstairs long enough, on the second floor, I can get the ribbon when he thinks I’ve left the temple! _

He hears Ravi make a surprised sound and sees a crossbow raised in his direction, but he’s already made the decision to bolt before the weapon has been raised to his level. To leave empty-handed now, when he’s so _close _to getting what he came for and giving Asphodel her joyous spark of life back…? 

It’s utterly unthinkable. 

Pep’s footsteps slap against the marble steps, and he’s halfway up them in the next instant, adrenaline coursing through him and adding happily to the chase. 

_ I can do this. For Asphodel, for her ribbon, I can do this. _

**Author's Note:**

> Asphodel belongs to another player.  
Ravi belongs to @humorless_hexagon  
Cult of Charnel and surrounding situations belong to @ragtag_slyboots. 
> 
> Kudos/comments are love. Come scream at me on tumblr @deathishauntedbyhumans.


End file.
